Movable support



Sept. 16, 1941. R THOMAS 2,256,004

MOVABLE SUPPORT Filed June 14, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l I I Hue/Z2571 J66 Q0/2121 1720mm? p 1941- J. R. THOMAS 2 Y MOVABLE SUPPORT Filed June 14, 1937 2 Sheet s-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 16, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE" MOVABLE SUPPORT Joseph R. Thomas, Chicago, 111. Application June 14, 1937, Serial No. 148,159

Claims.

This invention relates in general to a mechanical gliding carrier in which a relatively fixed support is connected to a movable support by members which provide for a substantially level movement or a movement in which the position of the movable member may be slightly raised at the ends of its travel or intermediate the ends thereof.

An important object of the invention is in the provision of mechanical means for providing a gliding movement between relatively fixed and movable members such that the movable member may be maintained substantially in the same plane without sliding, rolling or frictional engagement between the parts.

A further object of the invention is in the provision of a mechanical gliding movement in which a movable member is supported entirely from the under or covered side by the fixed member.

A still further object of the invention is to provide improved means for controlling the movement of the fixed and movable members.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter, the preferred embodiments of the invention being described in the specification and shown in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one form of a mechanism embodying the principles of this invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 illustrates a modification of the structure shown in Fig. 1 with a co-ordinating link;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation showing a modified form of link connection;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of another form of gliding movement having means for holding the movable part in different positions with respect to the fixed part;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary front elevation showing the locking means of Fig. 5;

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary plan view showing the locking means of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of a modified gliding structure;

Fig. 9 is a view in elevation of the front linkage of Fig. 8; and

Fig. 10 is a view in elevation of the rear linkage of Fig. 8.

For certain carriers and supports it is desirable to provide a controlled gliding movement which is neither rolling nor sliding and in which the movement of one of the members may be in the same plane throughout its travel or the movable member may dip at the center orat the ends of one or both limits of its travel. A. controlled gliding movement of this kind may be used for supporting files, drawers, extending tables or drawing boards, and may be used in a variety of other structures where rolling and slidable connection between the fixed and movable parts is objectionable or undesirable.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, this invention is disclosed in connection with fixed and movable members in which the connections between them are generally reversible or invertible without requiring any particular change. That is, although one part is described as the fixed part and the other as movable thereto, the movable part may be fixed in position and the other part which was regarded as fixed may be movable with respect thereto without any change in the connecting means.

In the structure shown in Figs. 1 and 2 a lower frame comprising a base member I 0, a top H and uprights I2, is reported as supported on a fixed plane at the bottom. A member l4 represented as an angle bar positioned above the level of the top H is supported from the top by a depending intermediate supporting structure comprising two sets of links I 5 and I6, and a plate I! to which they are pivoted. Each plate i7 is shown as triangular in form having a pivot I8 for mounting it in connection with the member M, a pivot l9 at one lower angular corner to which one end of a link I5 is pivoted, the upper end of this link being connected by a pivot 29 with the top H of a fixed support. The other link [6 is connected by a pivot 2| with the lower opposite corner of the plate I! and by a pivot 22 at the upper end with the top H, the distance apart of the pivots 2B and 22 being greater than the distance apart of the pivots I9 and 2!.

By having a supporting structure of this kind between the fixed and movable members at the ends of the movable member it is supported for a relative swinging movement of a considerable extent, substantially parallel to the base or fixed member, the movement depending upon the lengths of the links and plates, the distance apart of the pivots l9 and 2| and the pivots 20 and 22 respectively. Substantially the same result may be obtained by attaching the links I5 and [6 to the movable member I4 and the plate I1 to the fixed member, by changing the lengths of the suspension members if necessary. In this connection it is also pointed out that if the member I l is fixed in position the movement of the base Ill with respect to it would be substantially the same in direction and extent.

Instead of two plate structures at both ends of a movable member as in Fig. 1, a movable mem- "secured toethe upperjbar of the frame end and a pair of links 3| and 32 at the other end. One of the links 3| has a pivot 33 at its upper end connecting it to the member, 30, the

other link 32 has a pivot 34 at its upper end connecting it to the top member I I of the frame, and the lower ends of both links are connected by apivot 35. One of the links 32 is connected by a co-ordinating bar-36 with the plate l1, pivots 31 and 38 atthe ends ofthe bar being located to limit the swinging movement of the member 30.

In the structure shown by Fig. 4 a movable member 40 has 2. depending link 4| near each end'connected to it by a pivot 42, and a link 43 is connectedby a pivot 44 at its upper end to the top II of the frame, the lower ends of being connected together by a pivot 45. In order to limit the movement of this structure, a coordinating bar 46 is connected by end pivots 4'! to the corresponding bars 4! at the ends of the movable member, and one of the links :33 hasan extension 48 beyond its pivot point 45 to which a co-ordinating link 49 is connected atone end by a pivot 50, the other end of the link being con-, nected to the bar 46 by a pivot i. Thus the the links limiting movement of the movable member 48 V with respect to the fixed frame is controlled and varied, the distance of the pivots 41 from the pivots 42 of the links 4| and the length and connection of the co-ordinating link 49 may be varied to vary the throw and corresponding move- 7 ment of the member 40.

In all of these forms it will be apparent that the natural tendency of each of the structures is to return to a central or intermediate position,

the view shown in Figs.'1, 3 and 4 showing the movable members at one end of their travel for more clearly illustrating'the relative positions of the parts i V v For some types of gliding structures it may be desirable to lock the fixed and movable parts together at different positions of the movable member. Such a locking structure is shown more clearly in Figs; 5, 6 and '7 but it may be applied equally as well to the other forms of the in; vention.

A fixed support 55 having an upright frame 156 v is located at each end of a support 51 which is movable forward and back to'the limiting positions shown by the full and broken outlinesin Fig. 5 ,The swinging support 57 has an angle bar 58-at each'end swingingly mounted in the frame 55 by pairs of links 59 and 66' at one end of the bar and iii-and B2 at-the other end of the bar. The pairs of links are connected together at their lower ends by pivots 63 and 64 respec tively, the pairs are joined by a spacing bar 634 mounted at its ends in the angle bars 58 at the ends (only one being shown) of the support 51 and has a crank portion 14 intermediate the ends to which one end of a link 15 is attached, the other end extending through a bracket 16 at the lower front edge of the support where it is easily accessible for movement by simply reaching below the edge of the support. Adjacent each end of the bar 13 and rigidly attached to rotate therewith is a locking pawl 11 adapted to engage in any one of the notches I2 with which it comes in contact. When the link 15 is pulled outwardly from the ledge the latches are raised and when it is pushed inwardly the latches are in position to I a fixed base 83 has a rear support 3! and a front I support 82 extending above and below a movable support E3. The front portion of the movable support is suspended from its under side by links 84 and 85 pivoted together at their lower ends and the upper end of one connected by pivot 86 to the upper end of thesupport 32 and by pivot 81 to the under side of the member 83. At the rear a link 83 is connected by a pivot 89 to the top of the rear support 8! and by a pivot 96 to the downwardly turned rear extremity ill of the support 83. To co-ordinate the movement of the front and rear swinging supports and to control the swingingaction of the member 83, a bar 92 V has a pivot 93 at one end connecting it intermediate the ends of the rear suspending link 88 and a pivot 94 at the other end of the bar 92 may coincide with the pivot joining the front legs 84 and 85. It will be understood that the above structure is located at each end of the member 8 3 which may be of considerable length to form any sort of a support or even a swinging seat structure, theifixed and movable members being I connected by cross pieces 95 and 96 respectively. It will also be understood that the swinging movement is controlled and varied by connecting the are connected. This structure-also tends to center itself from either limiting position as shown in Fig. 8. I V 7 Although the movable arms and levers are shown at the outside of the fixed uprights, they maybe located and similarly connected'inside of the uprights. )Also the relatively fixed and movable structures shown more particularly in having the same end pivots -63, 64, and the upper of the links are connected by individual pivots with the. bar 58 and frame 56 respectively.

The pivot 64 of one pair of links may be located at a distance from the lower depending extremity of one of the links and a co-ordinating bar 65 may be connected by a pivot 85 at one end to one of the links 69 and by a pivot El at the other end. below the pivot 54. To change, the throw or travel of the bar 58 and the support 5'! the .co-ordinating bar 65 is changed in length ends or in its pivotal connection with the linksat either or both ends thereof.

7 The locking, mechanism an upstanding rim H with spaced locking notches comprising a plate iii EE'having and the movable support the fixed member, withr 'li2 in the edge of the rim. Albar 13 is' pivotally Figs. 1 to 7 may be used in inverted relation,

that is, by making the fixed'support movable out materiallyraltering the connection of the parts; 7 Structures of this kind are particularly adapted for use in filing cabinets, for extensible supports, such as trays, and for end tables and. the like. ,By properly connecting and proporin tioning the supporting and connecting parts the movable member maymove outwardly and then rise at the outer end of its travel, or if desired the movable member may bemoved outwardly and then turned upwardly in a vertical'direction. Var1ous other variations in the structure and operation may thusbe made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention,

I claim:

1. A stationary base and a seat mounted to glide thereon, the mounting comprising front and rear pairs of swinging links at each end of the seat, the upper ends of the links of each pair being pivoted to the base and seat to swing freely thereon and depending therefrom and pivotally connected to each other at their lower ends, and a rigid coordinating bar extending directly between and pivotally connected at its ends to one of the links of the front and rear pairs at one end of the seat for controlling the extent of swinging movement of the seat.

2. In a mechanical reciprocating level rocking swing, the combination with a stationary base support and a movable seat member, means for connecting the movable seat member to the support to swing substantially in a single plane, said means comprising a plurality of pairs of swinging and supporting means, each comprising a link directly pivoted at its upper end to the support and depending therefrom, and a supporting link member directly pivoted at its upper end to the under side of the swinging seat member and depending therefrom and pivoted at its lower end to the first link, a co-ordinating bar connecting the swinging and supporting pairs of links at the same end of the movable seat member, and means extending from one of the swinging and supporting links to the bar for controlling the extent of movement of the seat member.

3. In a mechanical reciprocating level rocking swing, a stationary upwardly extending support, a member movable thereto, means for mounting the movable member to swing in a plane with respect to the fixed support, said means comprising sets of links at the front and rear of the movable member as determined by the forward and rearward movement thereof, each set comprising a link pivoted at its upper end to the fixed member and depending therefrom, and a supporting link pivoted to the under side of the movable member and pivotally connected at its lower end to the said depending link, and a stabilizing member comprising a bar pivotally connected at its ends to a link of the front and rear sets and at one side of the pivotal connection between the links at one end, and means connecting the supporting link from the other side of its pivotal connection-with its other link to the said bar for controlling the swinging action of the movable member.

4. A stationary base, a seat therefor, means for mounting the seat to swing on the base comprising a pair of links at the front and rear of each end of the seat, one link of each pair pivoted at its upper end to the stationary base and depending therefrom, the other link of each pair pivoted at its upper end to the end of the seat and depending therefrom, the lower ends of the links of each pair being pivotally connected together, a rigid spacing bar pivotally connected at its ends directly to corresponding points on the front and rear pairs of links at the same end of the seat, and a rigid co-ordinating bar directly pivoted to opposite links of the front and rear pairs at the same end of the seat, one end of the latter bar being pivoted to a link above its lower pivotal connection and the other end of the bar being connected to the link below its lower pivotal connection with its companion link.

5. .A stationary base, a seat therefor, means for mounting the seat to swing on the base, comprising a pair of links at the front and rear of each end of the seat, one link of each pair pivoted at its upper end to the stationary base and depending therefrom, the other link of each pair pivoted at its upper end to the end of the seat and depending therefrom, the lower ends of the links of each pair being pivotally connected together, and a rigid co-ordinating bar pivoted at one end to one link of the rear pair of links at one side of its pivotal connection with the other link and the other end of the bar being pivoted to the correspondingly opposite link of the front pair of links at the opposite side of its pivotal connection with its other link to control the movement of the seat.

JOSEPH R. THOMAS. 

